There are Many Different Kinds of Silence
by Lillia Enchanted
Summary: It was a normal day at the library, Levy was helping her friend clear the people out so that he could lock the doors at the end of the day, when she realises just how many forms of silence there could be. A GajEvy one-shot, full of fluff and a quiet attitude that makes things seem different all around you.


Her fingers danced along the spine of the book, pausing to trace a letter with her thumbnail. The floorboards creaked beneath her as she shifted her weight from one foot to another. Someone coughed nearby, but she didn't turn to see who. This book was just too important to take her eyes off of the cover.

Levy did this every time she found a new book in the library. By now it was instinctive to rub the cover and feel the dust that had creeped into any crevices. Feel the creased spine and just breath in deeply the scent of years gone by sitting on a desk or shelf.

It calmed her.

There was an unspoken excitement that always seemed to follow her until she found the next book in the library that she hadn't already read. The number of books like that was dwindling. Fast.

Levy quickly trotted toward the check-out desk, only to see that the world had changed since she went in to search the libarary for new literature. Now the windows were darkened without the sun, and the librarian drowsily read a romance novel that Levy had read at least twice. By the looks of how far the man was in it, he was probably at the point where the heroine decided that she wasn't good enough of a person to be around the hero and left a note as she ran away.

The librarian quickly snapped the romance novel closed and placed it on the desk. He smiled warmly at her.

"Hello, Levy!" The young man said. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. He had volunteered at the library for the summer between his first and second year at college, and the two had grown quite close because of all the time they ended up spending together.

" I just need to check one book out today, Maverick," she said sweetly before putting the book down on the table. Maverick took off his reading glasses to examine the bulky cover.

" So I see you decided to go back to the heavy, ancient kinds again," he observed. She nodded. Levy stole a glance at the wall clock to notice that closing time was in five minutes.

"It's a lot later than I thought it was. I think I heard someone in the back with me before, should I go get them?" she asked as any friend would offer to do a favor. Maverick noticed the time on the wall, too.

"How about we do it together? I need to lock the doors, anyhow," he suggested. She accepted the offer, and they headed towards the section from which Levy had come.

There was a calm, comfortable quietness that filled the hall as they walked together. They had come to every section of the library to clear out the late stragglers that summer. Their footsteps echoed down the hall as they went.

When they finally got to the end of the shelves of books, Levy was surprised to see a man with dark, spiky hair leaning over a large book that she had never seen before. He looked up to face her with crimson eyes.

"Sir, the library is closing now, I am going to have to ask you to leave if you're not going to check that book out," Maverick stated in a very professional librarian voice. Gajeel closed the book and pushed it back onto the shelf quietly.

"New boyfriend?" he simply asked, addressing Levy. she blushed and shuffled her feet. Gajeel left the library, quietly walking down the halls.

Maverick looked at her inquisitively.

"You know him?" he asked casually. Levy looked at the ground, thinking about the S class exams.

"Aquaitances," she simply said. They lapsed back into silence as they walked to the front door.

But this was an awkward silence where they knew one of them should say something, but they both decided to wait for the other. When the front door was locked, finally, Maverick spoke.

"I'm going back to college next week." Levy looked at him for a while.

"Good luck, I'm guessing I won't be seeing much of you here, then," she said casually.

"Maybe I'll be looking at a part-time job," he replied. They both were pretty much relaxed around eachother for the next few moments.

"It's late, I guess I should be going," Levy murmered quickly.

"Yeah, see you around," he left. Now the silence was subdued. There were so many different ways that silence could be, she had noticed.

As she was walking home, she ran into Gajeel. He quietly decided to walk her back to her appartment because it was late.

"You never answered my question from before," Gajeel muttered. now the silence was expectant and pressing, and Levy felt the quiet burning her cheeks.

"A friend, nothing more," she said, a little more loudly than a whisper, but not by much. The silence was now of her thinking about how much colder the world seemed at night. She wished that she had brought a jacket when she left the house, the fall was setting in.

They both trailed off on their own thoughts until Fairy Hills came into sight.

"Goodnight, thanks for walking me home," she said quietly.

"Yeah," was his breif response. There was another silence that was pulling her back to her appartment, but she didn't want to leave. Gajeel didn't seem like he was going to move any time soon, either. After a long, slow time of waiting, Levy decided something.

She moved closer to Gajeel, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. He kissed back, and for the first time, Levy found a silence that was warm and secure.

It was a silence that was of warm company that nobody would want to let go of at the end of a long day and the warm silence clung to whoever was blessed with it. Even to see it through the many eyes that shone through the night would make you feel the same way.


End file.
